i was second (at least alphabetically)

This morning, at the a** crack of dawn, I loaded up my gear and headed out for the 3Sports Triathlon. I arrived just after 5:30, set up my stuff in transition and began to wait. FOREVER. OK, not forever, but over two hours, which is like forever for a tired, bloated and over-hydrated pregnant woman (I peed three times in that two hours).

You see, unlike my last tri, where I just guessed a swim time, I actually had a past performance to base my entry on. So, being the honest citizen that I am, I entered a 2:30 100 meter time (calculates out to 7:30 for the whole swim - still kind of a lie, I swam 7:58 last time). But that's not the point. What I was getting to was that by entering a "more accurate" seed time, I got to sit around and wait. I waited so long that three-quarters of the participants had already started. I waited so long that the first people out of the pool had already finished the entire race before I even got in line to start the swim. Needless to say, getting to start took a while.

But once I did start, it was a pretty awesome day. I jumped in the pool (once again with zero practice) and actually did well. I finished the swim leg in 7:23 ... under my seed time and 30 seconds faster than the last tri. Once I was able to drag my heavy body (yes, I raced Athena) out of the pool, I ran (more like a slow jog) to the transition area, where I threw on my shoes and helmet and got on my bike. And somehow, I cut 23 seconds off my first transition. So I was nearly a minute ahead of my last performance!! (OK, admit it. I rock!)

Now that I got my little ego boost (because I really need a bigger ego), things changed. Although I felt strong on the bike (I obviously wasn't pedaling hard enough), I added 1:33 to my time going into what I knew was going to be by slowest leg. The run. My transition was good, 9 seconds better than the last time, but that meant nothing in the long run, since my 5K split was 3:22 slower than seven weeks ago. EEK!! Now granted, it was way hotter and I am seven weeks more pregnant than last race (but I'm not looking for excuses, or anything).

Regardless of my time (1:22:27), I felt good when I finished and then I felt even more awesome when K (who was third in her age group) and I saw a list where I was ranked second (now, that I think about it, I'm pretty sure it was just an alphabetical list - but we failed to notice). Either way, it was a good day. Although not second, I was sixth in the Athena division and the self-proclaimed winner of the pregnant division (they should really start one of those).

But now, my tri career is on hold (at least until the little bean makes his/her appearance) and I'm totally bummed. I've had soooooo much fun with these races that I really can't wait for the next one! So who's in for the 3Sports Triathlon in July 09? With a whole year ahead of me, I MIGHT actually train.